


Errors

by BaneOfTheStars



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, My First AO3 Post, Other, Reader Is Not Frisk, Slow Burn, angst eventually at some point, reader has no gender, starts off pretty normal but isn't later trust me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-16 07:46:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5820139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaneOfTheStars/pseuds/BaneOfTheStars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At all started out so simply. Nothing was ever, EVER supposed to end up this way. How could it have happened? Was it you? Or was it just a little bit of everything telling you it just wasn't meant to be?<br/>****IMPORTANT NOTE****<br/>This story is currently on hiatus, partly because i'm really busy right now and partly because i have writer's block for this one. I might be doing a different story, i'm not sure yet. Sorry about that!! I do plan on updating it in the future though, maybe when school's out!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Game: START

The alarm blared off with some catchy, overplayed song, indicating the start to your morning. As you rubbed the sleep from your eyes, you got up to start the typical routine: get up, take a shower, get dressed, eat something small for breakfast (or just drink something with caffeine on the days you were running late), brush your teeth, put on shoes, and drive to work. 

Once you arrived at work, you casually avoided a few of your co-workers and headed over to your friend Tiffany. She was tall, taller than you, and grinned widely when she spotted you coming over.

“There you are! I was wondering if you'd be here today, you seemed a little under the weather yesterday.” When you assured her you were just tired, she continued while adjusting her shirt and resumed her previous thought. “Well you will not _believe_ what happened last night after you left. One guy came in, complained that his food was taking too long, and then came back later for more food! Like, what kind of person does that?” You shrugged, while a smile made it's way onto your face as she rambled on. “Honestly! And then yell at the poor chef who makes your food _from scratch_ and say it's taking too long? Ugh! Buuuuuut, I spotted a totally uber cute guy in my section so I have to go and wait on his table before Marie gets there, so talk to ya later! Love ya!” With that she ran off (almost forgetting her hat) and you couldn't help but giggle at her antics.

Yes, you were a wait-staff employee. Not like you minded. You may not have liked interacting with people all that much because honestly people scared you a little, especially when they were angry. Nonetheless you loved your regular customers. They are always friendly and happy to see you, which always made your day better. It gave you a wonderful feeling when they would request to sit in your section whether it was to say hello or enjoy the service you provided. It was one of the many things you looked forward to, along with the white noise chatter as background noise and the wonderful smells that wafted throughout the place. I mean, occasionally there'd be a parent of a rambunctious child here or there, but it wasn't anything you couldn't handle. Probably your favourite customers were the children, to be honest. These kids could not prevent you from smiling, especially when they got excited over the menu you helped to create.

No, you didn't mind your job at all. Yes there were rough days, as there is always rough days, but nothing too extraordinary. Even when the monsters came out onto the surface, not much changed. Mostly the topics of conversation, the differing opinions and views on them and whether or not they should be feared or respected. You always kept your opinions to yourself, even if it meant biting your tongue at a particularly nasty comment from a co-worker or a customer. You didn't see the problem with them, they're still people with emotions and thought and obviously share a part of our culture. And if the recent historians clamoring for attention were anything to go by, monsters were a part of society many many years ago. 

You didn't really keep up with the news, the most information you had was from passing snippets of conversations. It all settled down after a few months when the world found something else to focus on – namely the new monster celebrity that was taking over the screens. What was his name?Mittatom or something? All you remembered was that it was weird – and life went back to the way it was for the most part. You had seen the occasional monster here or there when going throughout town, but never up close or anything. Well, except for one family a few weeks back.

It was when you were walking to your car from the grocery store after picking up a few essential things. That’s when you saw a small lizard-dinosaur like monster without arms running through the parking lot. It was in such distress; crying and calling for its mom. Being the child-loving person you were, you quickly put your groceries in the car and called out to him. He had spun around, almost losing his balance, and backed up a little. He apologized for being so loud, which upset you a bit. He was scared and calling for his mother, he every right to be loud. You reassured him that you just wanted to help him find his mother. At this he looked slightly surprised for a moment before grinning.

You two had decided to start your search back at the store, calling over the intercom to see if she was still inside. The person you talked to didn't exactly like the thought of letting him anywhere near the microphone, but you not-so-gently nudged them out of the way so he could. It didn't take long for his mother to find you two (during which time he introduced himself as MK and you found out he idolized someone named “Undyne” who you apparently reminded him of) and she was another armless lizard monster. She thanked you profusely and they went on their way, but always smiled and waved at you after that, along with MK occasionally running up to you and chattering away when he had the time.

Now, don't get me wrong, you aren't some kind of child-loving, helpful, singing to the birds saint. You are multi-faceted; like a diamond, like any living thing. You hated being in the spotlight or being put on the spot. You had a tendency to be very very sarcastic and/or snarky and it wasn't always under your breath. You weren't very patient, and had been told that you are far too nosy when it comes to your friends and what's bothering them. Yes you wanted to help, but they didn't always want your help which frustrated you. If someone you know yelled at you, genuinely yelled at you, you had a tendency to flinch, shrink away, and probably cry a little. Which was fairly surprising considering if anyone else tries to pick a fight with you your response was to either fight back or (attempt to) politely get them to stop.

But I won't go too far into what you're like. You are, after all, you. I believe you know yourself better than I do. No, I will get back to your day that started everything.

Like I said, it was a normal morning. You were waiting tables, everyone was having a good time, and then the madness started. First were the whispers that started by the door and the ripples spread like a tidal wave crashing towards where you were. The older woman you were waiting on noticed it first. A glance from your face to behind you, then back again with a slight snarl on her features. A muttered order, a glance behind you again, and then changing her decision to something simpler, something faster, something that would let her leave the building sooner. Eyes narrowed, wrinkles forming at the corners. Shifted posture, more tense, more uncomfortable, more irritated. You, confused. You wrote down her order, put it in your pocket, offered her a smile just like you do every day. A turn, and then you saw them. A large group, made up of the strangest collection of people you've ever seen.

Starting in the front was a very large goat-like monster, and if the purple dress was anything to go by, it was a her. Clutching to said dress was a small brunette human child, no older than eight. Behind them was a tall fish monster, also appearing female. Her blue scales shimmered slightly in the light from the window next to her, and contrasted sharply with her fiery red hair. She was looking over her shoulder at another very tall monster, slightly taller than herself, and that was the one that surprised you the most. It appeared he (you assumed it was a he) was similar to a human skeleton, except for the fact that his face was animated, not solid, and the proportions were slightly off. On top of that, it wasn't nearly as unsettling-looking as a human skeleton, his appearance gave more of an impression of actual being, not moving bones. There was also a shorter yellow lizard-dinosaur monster, but not the same type that you were familiar with. This one had arms, and judging from the labcoat she (again assuming) probably didn't have a rambunctious child running around and getting himself lost.

You dropped off the old woman's order to the kitchen and inched forward to try and hear what they were saying. The girl who usually seats customers had called over the manager, who has a very strained smile on his face. It's not that this is an anti-monster establishment, oh no, it's just that no monsters had actually came IN to the restaurant.

As you inched closer, you started to make out snippets of their conversation (once you tune out the fish woman and the tall skeleton, boy they were loud). Something like “no room”, “terribly sorry”, and “we can recommend somewhere else” made it to your ears.

“What do you mean we don't have any room?” Just from where you were standing you could see at least half a dozen tables, more than big enough to hold their entire entourage. The girl and the manager each gave you a nasty look, ignoring your confused expression, and plastered their fake smiles back on their faces before turning back to the apparent leader of the group, the large goat-like woman.

“We do have a few smaller tables, but not anything big enough for your group, and no room to put them all together. We're terribly sorry.” _Is the woman really buying this? No, no, nevermind._ You just saw her face briefly change from one of regal authority to one of irritation and back again. She knew that they're bullshitting her and was hiding it very well.

You just couldn't take this anymore. _This is just ridiculous._ “Well I have a few tables open in my section, I'm sure we could make some room.” Everyone looked over at you in shock, making you feel slightly uncomfortable, so you self-conciously took a small step back under the (now-glaring) stares of your manager and co-worker and the surprise of the entire group. Now you've done it. Great going. That's a perfect way to lose your job you know.

Anyways, you still said it and the offer was now out in the open. Before you had a chance to retract your statement or run away or anyone really had time to do anything, the fish woman spoke up. “Really? That's awesome! Lead the way!” She shot a large grin your way before grabbing the arm of the skeleton next to her and literally _picking up_ the poor dinosaur monster in a labcoat. Not wasting any time, you led them to your section, still ignoring the glares of your manager and co-worker. You start to grab a few empty tables together before you were gently nudged aside; again by the tall fish woman. “We got this, don't worry about it!” She then proceeded to lift the entire table with a both terrifying and impressive ease. 

Before she can go to set it down by the first table, the goat-woman quickly told her to put it down gently, emphasizing the word gently. The woman halted in her tracks, nodded, and carefully set the table down as if it is made of glass. The child at the goat-woman's side giggled at this, something apparently funny about that particular action. The skeleton also grabbed a table and set it down by the first two (also with breathtaking ease; are monsters really that strong?) and proceeded to help the child and the dinosaur monster to finish bringing the chairs over. You decided that they can seat themselves and walked over to grab some menus for them.

Your entire section was silent. Hell, the entire _building_ was silent. It was deafening, the weight of all that silence pressing down on you, surrounding you on all sides, suffocating you. The murmurs started again, but with a much quieter, harsher tone this time. A lot of people didn't mind, but the ones that do were making themselves known with little looks over at the table that they thought no one noticed. You walked back, shrinking under the stares and the whispers and the glances and the crushing disapproval. When you walked back, the group had in fact seated themselves, ignoring the other patrons. How do they make it look so easy? The thought crossed your mind but you quickly put it away as you handed out menus.

“Wowie! Your menu looks super fun Frisk!” The tall skeleton seemed to be talking to the child, whom you had given a kid's menu to. Without a second thought you asked him if he would like one as well, not demeaning, not as if you were talking to a child, not as if he were special needs, merely if he wanted one. “Really!? Can I!?” First he looked to the goat woman, who nodded her head while smiling gently. He then looked over to his left where there appeared to be another, shorter skeleton (he must have been standing behind the taller monsters earlier, whoops) who also nodded while grinning.

“I'll take one too! I have to challenge you to an epic match of tic-tac-toe, don't I Papyrus? And then Frisk can play the winner!” The fish woman exclaimed, receiving an enthusiastic nod from both the skeleton and the child in response. The scene put a small smile on your face, and you returned with two more children's menus. Papyrus (what a strange name, isn't it?) slid his menu over to the other skeleton and then proceeds to claim the orange crayon as 'his colour' and then the fish woman picked yellow while loudly exclaiming it's her favourite (much to the embarrassment of the yellow monster beside her and the amusement of you) and the child picked red.

They had a fun time with the menus, it amusing them long enough for you to take everyone's order and bring the food out. The entire group seemed to be enjoying itself (with an occasional groan from them, Papyrus being the loudest while Frisk giggles) but unfortunately it picked up quite a bit just before they left. You ran around frantically, trying to serve everyone in a timely manner and only managed a quick goodbye and a wave as they leave. You didn't even get over to their table to pick it up before they leave.

Much to your surprise, there was an extremely large tip left behind (as much as you would love to return some of it, they had already departed) and a note hastily written on a napkin.  


>   
>  _Thanks for being so nice to my bro and dealing with him and Undyne,_  
>  _I know they can be major **bone** heads sometimes. And thanks for standing  
> _ _up to the manager for us.  
> _

The pun amused you to say the least. And if you were assuming correctly, this must have been written by the other skeleton. Either that or monster genetics really were entirely different than a human's but you didn't want to dwell too long on it. Nonetheless, the note certainly made you smile with the tone of sincerity in it, despite the lame pun. I mean honestly, was that really the best he can do? 


	2. First Puzzle: COMPLETE

The next few days brought no new surprises other than the sight of monsters entering the restaurant and not being chased out must have encouraged others so the amount of monster customers increased drastically. Usually they got sent to either yours or Tiffany's section, not that you or she minded. In fact, it was almost a week later until you saw any of them again.

You were waving goodbye to a customer (MK's mom, to be specific, as soon as she found out it was you who was working there she came almost every other day with MK) when you heard the unmistakable voice of the taller skeleton.

“So then Undyne and I had to find the superglue to put the vase back together!” This was followed by a very... unique laugh, to say the least, and a giggle from the human child. Sure enough, you turned and it was Papyrus, Frisk, and the second skeleton from the other day. Frisk spotted you and waved so you of course waved back, which grabbed the attention of Papyrus, who also waved, so then you were waving awkwardly at him as well.

With an amused expression on his face at your reaction to the apparently super friendly monster, he turns to his brother. “Hey, that was a pretty good story bro. Definitely memorable. I guess you could say it'll-”

“Don't you dare,” his brother threatens.

You could hear it before the pun even comes out of his mouth, it was almost too predictable. A wink, a grin, and then- “ **stick** with me.” Papyrus groans loudly while Frisk giggles (who is hanging off of Papyrus's arm, I should point out) and you couldn't help the snort that followed at both the well executed pun and his brother's reaction to it.

Unfortunately for you, all three of them noticed. Frisk giggled again, Papyrus shouted something along the lines of 'don't encourage him!' and the other skeleton looked surprised for a moment before winking at you. Uh-oh.

“Well, **vase** d on the fact that I'm not the only one laughing at my jokes, they can't be _that_ bad.” Yup, there he went. You encouraged him. Now he was on a roll. “In fact, you could say that my jokes strike the **funny bone**. That they're pretty **humerus**.” His brother (you assumed that they were brothers, they are both skeletons after all) groaned even louder and Frisk was reduced to all-out laughing.

“Please, can someone show us to a table before he continues?” Papyrus pleaded, and you decided to take pity on the poor monster and waved them over to a table in your section, grabbing two kids menus and one adult on along the way. “Oh, hello again kind human!”

You politely told him hello, and set the menus down for them. When you asked for what they wanted to drink, Papyrus quickly exclaimed that he wanted to try coffee, to which his brother just as quickly told him no. Not wanting to see the skeleton pout (you had already grown quite fond of him, perhaps it's his likeable personality) you informed him that there's hot chocolate, which is even better than coffee. He considered this an acceptable substitute and ordered that instead. His brother shot you a quick glance of gratitude and turned to Frisk.

“Well kid? What're you gonna have?”

Frisk used sign language to indicate what they wanted – a lemonade – and as he turned to you to translate for the child, you wrote down the order and smiled at the little brunette. “A lemonade? No problem! What about you?”

Surprise was written on his features and you decided to offer an explanation. “My little cousin has autism, so when he doesn't feel like speaking, he uses sign language. I'm a little rusty, but I know some things.” He nodded then, accepting your answer.

“Well that's good, I get **bone** tired translating all the time.” Another groan, another giggle, a grin from you. “I’ll just have a water though.” You nodded and wrote it down, went back and got their drinks for them, brought the drinks out, and took their food orders. There weren’t any other customers in your area so you decided to talk to them for a little bit.

“-and then Undyne stayed with us for a while, considering her house burnt down and all. But it was fun! Extended sleepover!”  
You blinked. “That was… quite the story. This is the same Undyne that MK talks about all the time?”

Papyrus nodded enthusiastically while Frisk looked at you inquisitively. You know MK? They signed to you. You nodded and proceeded to tell the story of how you met MK and his mother. Frisk and Papyrus seemed quite entranced by the story, agreeing with MK’s comment of how you reminded him of Undyne (“She would never leave a child in need, and neither did you!”) while the other skeleton - you had finally gathered that his name was Sans - appeared to be lost in thought, not that you noticed.

If you wish to know what he was thinking about, he was thinking about you. Shocking, I know. More specifically, he was thinking about how you interacted with everyone. A human, working in a business with no previous known monster customers, who stuck up for monsters, helped a monster child find his mother, have no apparent problem with continuing to interact with monsters, while most likely never seeing a monster up close before helping MK. Yes, there were people willing to help the monsters, but most were people who had obsessions with them, either because they were ‘cool’ or for other reasons he’d rather not dwell on. On top of that, you interacted with both his brother and Frisk perfectly, something that he knows is difficult to do. He was currently trying to figure out why.

Why did you resonate so well with both Frisk and Papyrus? Were you one of those obsessed people and just hiding it well? Did you think it was cool to help the monsters? To be honest, ever since coming onto the surface he’s been confused about almost everything. There’s no predictability on the surface, no repeats, no patterns, it’s all chaos and he’s so _so_ used to repetition that something like this, something like you, is completely throwing him off.

And yet, maybe change is a good thing? After all, he and the child had decided that this would be the last reset, and that itself is one of the largest changes in his life. But here you were, easily slipping yourself into their life, his life, and he didn’t know how. The only reason he even thought about coming back to the restaurant was because both Frisk and Papyrus wanted to talk to you again, your carefree attitude from the day before making them decide that you would be their next friend.

It wasn’t hard to become friends with Frisk - they had, after all, befriended and entire underground - but it was his brother that confused him. Despite wanting to be friends with everyone, Papyrus wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it. And the fact that you so easily befriended him, knew how to talk to him as easily as Undyne does, confused Sans greatly.

But, I won’t go into his thoughts any further. Perhaps I should get to where it was the end of the meal and they already left? That’s where things start getting interesting anyways.

You were picking up the table, as you should, and saw yet another note written on a napkin, written in the same messy scrawl as before.  


>   
>  _I think Pap and the kid wanna be friends with you._   
>  _Well, as long as you don’t laugh too hard at my_   
>  _**egg** cellent puns. Even if they are pretty **sweet**._   
> 

And underneath it was another large tip, much larger than what you should’ve been given. Again, it was too late to return some of it. So what are you supposed to do when they come the next time? Why, leave a reply note, of course.

You slipped it to him when handing out the drinks before walking away quickly, slightly embarrassed that you were actually doing this.  


>   
>  _Well I suppose I could **lettuce** try and be friends._   
>  _And stop leaving such large tips!!!_   
> 

This is what you got in response, along with an even larger tip than last time:  


>   
>  _no._   
> 

The back-and-forth continues for two months, trading puns and arguing over how much of a tip he should leave. The entire time you got to know both Frisk and Papyrus better, and they occasionally brought Undyne along with them. You never saw the yellow dinosaur monster after that (“Busy with some weird science thing, isn’t she so smart?”) or the goat woman (She’s really busy, Frisk would sign to you) but one time you almost had to make sure MK didn’t pass out when he spotted Undyne coming in with the others.

Then - after a particularly stressful day at work, may I add - There was a different kind of note on the napkin. If you didn’t recognize the scribble that passes as Sans’s handwriting, you wouldn’t have thought twice about it. On the napkin was a phone number, nothing else. I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it? You and him had been talking for a while, you’ve been talking to his family, it only makes sense that this would happen. So, when you got home to your one bedroom apartment - after shooing away Tiffany and telling her the number was nothing, of course she had to see - you pulled out your phone.

\--Hey. This is Sans’s number, right? 

Your finger hovered over send. Why the hesitation? Why not just get it over with? It’s not like it’s _that_ weird, right?

You pushed the button.

A minute passed, then another.

Then it said he was typing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! :D I finally updated, yay! I'm sorry if there are any errors or anything, please feel more than welcome to correct me, i'm editing and posting this late so i am tired. I hope you enjoy!


	3. Level Up!

You waited with baited breath while the three dots did their little dance for what seemed like hours.

\--depends. is it going **tibia** crime if i ask who this is?

A wave of relief washed through you, followed quickly thereafter by amusement. So it was his number, he didn’t give you a fake or something. Then you mentally berated yourself; why would he do that? It’s not like you asked for his number, he voluntarily gave it to you.

You told him that it was you, and you received another pun in response. You texted back and forth for a while, trading puns and not-so-subtle flirting before you let him know that you had to go to bed for your shift in the morning.

\--alright. sleep well. dont want u **bone** tired for work

A small laugh made it’s way out of your mouth despite how easily predictable that one was. You set the phone down and curled up in your bed, lulled asleep to the sound of the passing cars outside and the occasional siren in the distance.

_White._

_So much white. I can smell it, the air is white the walls are white the floor is white the ceiling is white so much WHITE. I hate white._

_Black._

_One smear of black, growing closer and then farther and then closer. Circling circling circling. Like a vulture. Black is scary, black is bad, black seemed so nice at first why me why can’t i just go?_

_Black comes closer, so much black, so close. Nonononono not again not again nononotagain please please PLEASE I’m so sorry so sorrysosorry I never wanted to be here let me go please please pleasepleasePLEASE_

_White._

_Burning white, agonizing white, white senses, white PAIN_

_There’s screaming. Such horrible, inhuman screaming. Whose is it? And fire. Fire from my eyes and lava in my veins and embers for my nerves and burning cinders for my hair and hot coals for my fingers I am fire I am pain I am white._

_**PLEASE JUST LET ME GO** _

You woke up with a jolt, sitting upright and shivering despite the cold sweat that coated your body. You didn’t remember your dream, just the paralyzing fear and the lingering, tingling feeling of pain all across your body. You curled up, wrapping your arms around your legs and you dropped your head between your knees. You stayed like that for a long while.

The nightmares had been there as long as you could remember. Always the same, something about fire and pure, unbridled panic. They never came often, maybe twice a year. Just long enough for you to almost forget about them before they came back. When you were a child you would wake up screaming and flailing, even after you woke up sometimes, but over the years you managed to train your body to keep some level of calm.

But ever since you started hanging out with the monsters, the memories flared up with a vengeance. First it was once a month, then it quickly escalated to once a week. For now it’s staying there, but it’s still not a very ideal situation.

You just sat there like that, curled up on yourself, for hours. Not thinking, not moving, just slowing your heartrate and then you let your mind go blank. You didn’t even realize how long you had sat there. What pulled you out of your trance was your phone buzzing, indicating you were getting a text.

\--knock knock

You glanced at the time as you picked up your phone with still-shaking hands. 4:12. You typed to him, having slight difficulty with your trembling fingers.

\--What are you doing up this early?

\--u were supposed to get this in the morning, but i guess we can do this now

\--Didn’t answer my question.

\--couldnt sleep, paps found espresso beans and decided to incorporate them into dinner. i’m wired  
\--u?

While the thought amused you - you had heard from Frisk the various misadventures of Papyrus and his cooking skills - you still couldn’t stop shivering.

\--Idk, happens sometimes. Probably a loud car outside or something.

\--oh  
\--well, knock knock

You decided to humour him. Getting knock knock jokes at four in the morning is a better alternative than shaking and waiting for your alarm clock to go off at six.

\--Who’s there?

\--wanda

\--Wanda who?

\--wanda have dinner?  
\--i know of this great burger place. when does ur shift get over?

Oh, so that’s what he was doing. He was asking you out to dinner. In probably the lamest way possible.

You stopped and thought about it for a moment. Yes, you had been flirting back and forth for a while now, but let’s be serious here. He’s a monster. Not only a monster, he’s a _skeleton_. That would certainly make things difficult both from other people and make showing affection the traditional ways.

But on the other hand, he was funny. Very funny. He was great with kids obviously, considering he usually had Frisk with him, and his brother practically counted as one. It’s not like you were really interested in anyone else. Hell, you rarely flirted as it was (Tiffany would always try and set you up; it was well meaning but misguided. One time you went on a date with someone who had weird obsession with lizards. Not fun). It’s not like he was bad looking, just very different from anything in the traditional sense.

\--Sure. I get out at five.

The reply from him is almost instantaneous.

\--thats cool. i’ll pick u up see u then

You giggled, the apparent calm tone of his message highly contrasting with the frantic speed with which he replied. Noticing that the shaking had finally ceased, you decided to just take a shower and get ready for work early. There’s no way you’d be going back to sleep and you have nothing better to do. Plus, you can pick out some nicer clothes to wear for after your shift.

Almost as soon as you stepped through the front door, Tiffany zeroed in on the - very slightly - nicer clothes and the fact that you actually attempted to tame your hair. She was in front of you in a matter of seconds.

“Oh? What’s this? Ohmygoshareyougoingonadatelater!?” She placed her hands on your shoulders and shook you roughly, her excitement overriding your personal safety, apparently. “Who are they? When is it? Where is it? Does this have to do with that number that you got yesterday? Tell me everything.”

Somehow - and you’re still not sure how - you managed to push her off and get ready for work without her figuring out anything.

You anxiously wait throughout your shift, the occasional down time letting the anxiety take over your thoughts. What if you’re looking too much into this? What if he just thinks you’d make a good friend? What if you’re thinking too little into this? What if it’s actually like some upscale restaurant or something? And then someone would walk through the door and you’d be off again.

Your shift was over before you know it, so you quickly changed into your clothes, let Tiffany mess with your hair and adjust it this way and that until she deemed it ‘just right’, and walked outside. Thankfully it was summer and you didn’t have to worry about it being cold. In fact, the sun was still somewhat above the horizon, making everything look like molten gold where the sunlight spilled out of between the buildings.

Sans was leaning against the wall by the door, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his phone. He was reading something. You couldn’t help but notice the snowflake design on the phone cover, and the fact that he had switched out his slippers (yes, you definitely noticed those from the various times he had come in there) for some converse. You cleared your throat to get his attention and it worked. He put his phone away quickly and then looked over at you, his ever-present grin getting a little wider.

“Hey. Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you out of your uniform.” He chuckled to himself and you give a small smile, anxiety taking over again. “Welp, it’s this way, if you don’t mind a little walk.” You shook your head and fell into step beside him, silence settling over the two of you for a little while as the sun painted the scenery gold and cars hummed as they went past and the nonsense noise of people in the distance talking filled the background.

It was … nice. A lot nicer than a lot of things had been in a long time.

He broke the silence first. “How was your day?” You shrugged and then proceeded to tell him that not too much happened besides Tiffany flipping out because she found out you had plans later. “She usually like that?” A nod from you and then a laugh from him. “I know some people like that. You remember the yellow dinosaur? Lab coat, shy, her name’s Alphys?” You told him that you do. “Her and Undyne, her girlfriend by the way, they’re like that.” That took you by surprise for two reasons. First of all, the shy, nerdy looking monster was going out with the very outgoing and loud and quite frankly burly monster? You thought it was kinda cute. No wonder why Undyne always praised her. Secondly, that Undyne - the big, loud, muscular monster that threatened to suplex Papyrus when he won at tic-tac-toe - was a major gossip about people’s relationships? You couldn’t help it. You laughed.

“Yeah, I know, right? She’s been bothering me constantly…” He trailed off for a moment before picking up his original train of thought. “Well, I think your hair looks nice. You can tell her that she did a good job.” Your cheeks flushed a shade darker as you mumble out that you will. And that she’ll get a big head because of it.

That elicited another laugh from him, and a shake of his head. “Definitely sounds like Undyne.” You walked in silence for maybe thirty seconds before he spoke up again. “Y’know, I know where you work, I know you like puns, but I guess I don’t know a whole lot about you.” You talked with him, telling him your likes and dislikes, about your family, your hobbies, and he did as well.

You found out that he and Papyrus were pretty much raised by a flame monster, who is also the apparent owner of the place your going to. On top of that, you found out that he played the trombone, had a pet rock, enjoyed science very much - especially astronomy and physics, loved his brother even more, and didn’t really interact with anyone outside of his little close-knit group that you had seen that first day.

You got to the place before you knew it. It was a small bar, you’d pass it if you weren’t looking for it, but once you got inside it was quite spacious. It had the wonderful smell of food and old wood lingering in the air, with some Elvis playing out of an old jukebox in the corner. It was pretty packed, but Sans walked straight up to the counter and took a seat - you figured it was probably his usual one - and gestured for you to sit beside him. The food was delicious and despite being slightly grossed out when he put an unnecessary amount of ketchup on his burger from a bottle that mysteriously came out of his pocket (‘it’s not that bad, wanna try some?’ to which you very quickly said no) you had fun with him.

He walked you back to your car, talking and joking the whole way. He pointed out various constellations (ones that were visible despite the light pollution of the town) to you as you walked and you in turn told him the human mythology behind them. When you got to your car, you both stopped and looked at each other, not really knowing what to do next.

“So, uh, yeah. I had fun.” You nodded in agreement. He looked down at his feet briefly before glancing upwards towards the sky. “You want to maybe do this again sometime? I’d be **rib** bing ya if I said I didn’t want to.” You agreed to that readily, the thought of doing something like this again filled you with ~~determination~~ happiness. If possible, his grin got even wider as he nodded to himself. “Okay, great! Uh, I mean, that’s totally cool. I’ll text you later I guess.” He walked off, leaving you to laugh at his pitifully failed attempt to hide his excitement. It made it a little easier to see how he and Papyrus were related.

You got home and almost immediately got a text from Tiffany (was she psychic? or just stalking you?) asking how it went. You told her you enjoyed it a lot and then she asked you if you planned on going anywhere with it.

\--Idk, I mean, I said I’d go on another date with him, if that’s what you’re asking.

\--YES IT IS OMGOMGOMG oh, and I know who you went with btw ;)

\--What?? How?

\--he asked me if you were single or not a while back LOL i knew this whole time

The thought was both embarrassing and mildly flattering. So he asked your friend if you were single to see if he could ask you out?

\--yeah, me and the fish chick have been talking about it. she’s pretty cool, and she def agrees that you would make a cute AF couple

Nope, that was it. Not only was she going to give you hell about this, Undyne was too the next time you saw her since she declared you and her friends about a month ago. Which meant she was most likely going to be coming in the next the next day. Lovely.

\--I’m done talking to you.

\--WAIT I LOVE YOU ILY STOP

\--Goodnight

You ignored her next few texts of apologies and ‘I regret nothing’s, only picking it up when you recognized the ringtone you had set for Sans’s number.

\--u didnt tell me that ur friend is in cahoots with undyne

\--Sorry, just found out. How did you?

\--i came home to an interrogation

The thought made you laugh. Undyne just sitting at his house, waiting to ambush him with questions about how it went and what happened, probably dragging Papyrus into it. Quite frankly, a big brother’s worst nightmare.

You apologized again and he told you not to worry about it before sending you a lame pun about going to bed. You set the phone on your nightstand (silencing it so Tiffany’s constant messaging wouldn’t wake you up) and curled up in bed, sleeping well that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooh! Third chapter! I'm totally liking how it's turning out, but from the looks of it there's gonna be a LOT more chapters than I had planned ahhhhhhhhh
> 
> but it might shorten up if I make longer chapters once the story starts picking up, we'll just have to wait and see! :D


	4. Achievement Acquired!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whhhaaaat two chapters in a week!?!? This really means I should be doing my homework instead of procrastinating lol
> 
> BUT i hope you guys enjoy this chapter, feel free to comment criticisms if I screwed something up! :)

It was never supposed to be this way.

It was going so well, too. After your first date you went on a second with him, then a third. Soon enough you were dating. The rest of the group adored you - Papyrus, Mettaton, Napstablook, and Frisk in particular. Everyone was so happy. You went on double dates with Alphys and Undyne, you calmed him down when Papyrus casually announced that he and Mettaton were dating, you two even watched Frisk on days when Toriel wanted some time to herself. You two relished the silent times together, either just hanging out at your apartment or walking around town, talking about life and theorizing about the world around you.

The good days were amazing. The better days were spectacular. So much of it was so happy, so bright, so golden like the sunlight from the first date.

You had met Mettaton and Napstablook in a rather interesting way, actually. Papyrus had gotten free tickets to a concert and asked if you wanted to come with him since Frisk had school the next morning and couldn’t be out that late while Sans had flat-out refused to come. You didn’t see why not. Well, it turns out that he had tickets because he actually knew the people performing (Mettaton and Napstablook) and even had backstage passes. The concert was alright, you supposed. You didn’t know why exactly Mettaton was such a big hit, but it was when you got backstage that things got intriguing.

When you two had gotten backstage, not only had Papyrus happily gotten trapped in a massive hug, you weren’t sure which party to feel sorry for. Papyrus or the robot. Then, when he had introduced you as the person his brother was going out with, you were also swept up into a ~~bone~~ crushing hug before being set down and interrogated. Mettaton had asked one question after another, flustering you and leaving you to stutter out one-worded answers before he asked the next question. Eventually Papyrus calmed him down and took pity on you, so he walked off with the robot star to fill him in while you calmed down and talked to Napstablook.

It turns out that Mettaton wasn’t as intimidating as he seemed at first, but he was definitely still pushy. Once he spent some time with you (Papyrus had the idea that you should all go out for Nice Cream) he quickly latched onto you, much in the same way Tiffany did. He kinda reminded you of her, in a way; energetic, a gossip, a flirt, always ready to help you look your best for a date. You and Napstablook would usually talk about music, you giving him advice here or there if it sounded like one of his remixes were off or needing something.

In fact, Papyrus brought you to a lot of things. He ended being almost like a little brother. You found some more figurines to give to him and always gave them to him as you found them randomly in various stores. He always told you about the various day-to-day things he experienced with the group and you even helped him prepare for his interview at one of the local Italian restaurants. When he got the job, you were almost squeezed to death in a thank-you hug. Luckily Sans was there to pry him off of you (after a few minutes of laughing of course).

It was one random day that he had come home from work and you were over, watching a crime drama with Sans. He had put his jacket up on the rack, and naturally you had asked him how his day went. “Oh, it went great! We had lots of business, and apparently a critic liked my spaghetti very much!”

“That’s totally cool bro, anything else interesting happen?”

“Well, Mettaton came in-” Sans had rolled his eyes at this, but you quickly elbowed him in the ribs before his brother noticed, “-and he also said my spaghetti was really good! Oh, and he asked me out.” With that Papyrus had headed to his room. You two had sat there for a moment before what he said really set in.

“Wait, _what_!?!?”

“Sans, calm down a minute-”

“Paps, get back down here!” Papyrus came back down the steps, staring inquisitively at the shorter skeleton. “What do you mean, he asked you out!?”

“Well, he said the food was really good, and then said that he’d like to take me out to dinner sometime. Formally. Undyne said that was him asking me on a date?” A splash of orange had covered his cheekbones. “So, naturally, I accepted!” You had known about his crush on Mettaton, so had Sans, but neither or you thought anything would ever come of it.

You then had to calm Sans down for the next hour while Papyrus happily went to his room to pick out clothes for the date and once Sans was ~~somewhat~~ subdued, you then had gone to the front yard to call Mettaton and threaten him thoroughly. Apparently Undyne had already - considering Papyrus had called her - and so he was well aware of the consequences (and properly terrified of them). Luckily both the high-energy robot and the even higher-energy skeleton had a great night, according to the updates that Sans had sent you later over text.

As for Frisk, they had latched onto you even faster than Papyrus did. You usually laughed at Sans because often when you two were watching Frisk, and they had called him ‘dad’. He was always trying to get Frisk to stop, but it never really worked. You found it cute how adamant Frisk was to call him that and how flustered he got. Frisk always had the same reasoning, too. Dads are there for fun, and to make sure you behave, and to protect everyone, and to love you. That’s what Sans does, Frisk would sign to the both of you every time while Sans would shake his head, trying to tell Frisk that he shouldn’t be their dad.

Frisk always protested. But that’s what you do! They would sign irritatedly at him, their movements becoming slightly jerkier and rougher as they grew more upset. We have fun, you make sure I behave, you protect everyone, and you love me! You even say so!

Then Sans would always give a resigned sigh, wave his hand dismissively and mutter something along the lines of “Ok kid, whatever. I give up.” Then you would go over to him, give him a hug and a kiss on the cheekbone and then laugh. “And just what’s so funny, babe?” He would ask you, relishing the feeling of the nickname leaving his mouth, always so happy to be able to call you that, to be able to call _you_ his.

“You’re such a big softie.” You would usually get a scoff in return, sometimes a lame bone pun, and he pretend to push you away in mock hurt, always to pull you back when you actually attempted to walk away.

Well, one seemingly normal day, Frisk had turned to you with a confused expression and signed to you. Why are you laughing? He’s dad, and you’re mom.

Your laughter had died in your throat, shock crossing both yours and Sans’s features. What? Did I do something wrong? they had worriedly signed, eyebrows furrowing together.

“N-no!” You had replied, “I just thought, y’know, that Toriel was your mom?” Frisk had shaken their head. No, she just needed to hear that. She’s more like an aunt, really. Or maybe a grandma (this had gotten a small chuckle out of Sans). Frisk’s hands moved quickly though the air, worry still on their features. Is that okay?

“B-but Frisk, why would you even want to call me mom?” The child stated its answer simply, the same way it answers the question of why Frisk had assigned the role of dad to Sans.

Well, mom’s are supposed to love you, and care about you, and make sure you and dad don’t get into trouble (a snort from Sans followed by a glare from you - oh yes, you had definitely yelled at him before about some of his antics with Frisk), and make you feel better when you’re sick, or have a nightmare, and I don’t know, you just felt like a mom. Not that I’m saying you’re super girly or anything, just motherly. That’s bad, isn’t it?

Frisks words had touched you deeply. “N-no sweetheart, that’s not bad at all. C’mere.” Frisk walked over to you and you wrapped them in a big hug, trying not to sniffle from sheer overwhelming emotions as you did so.

“Now who’s a big softie, huh?” He chuckled, grinning a little wider than usual. 

“Oh shut up,” you had responded. Your effectiveness was lessened by the fact that it came out as more of a croak from you trying not to cry. He had laughed and then you had cuffed his shoulder, playfully glaring at him as he pulled you into another hug and nuzzling you.

“I’m just kidding, geez. And here I thought it wouldn’t get **under your skin**.” 

“I hate you. So much.”

Even when Tiffany threw open the door to your apartment, screaming in excitement into your ear about how you had gotten a letter (how did she get your mail? or into your apartment?) about a place overseas that wanted to hire you in the career you've always wanted to go into, he was always so supporting. "Well, it's a great opportunity for you, and you always wanted to do this," he had said, a sad note in his voice. "You should do it. I promise I won't get too **bonely** if you leave." The pun was half-hearted, a sad attempt to hide that he really didn't want you to go. And why would you? You were perfectly happy right here, with him and everyone else. So, you had declined their generous offer, and they said that it wasn't a problem, but they would always keep a spot open for you if you changed your mind.

So yes, things were going so, _so_ well for you two. You were great together, you two were happy, everyone loved you, but then again, what goes up, must come down, right? Well no one told you that it would come crashing down all around you before you even knew what was happening.

It was _never_ supposed to be this way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN TEN KUDOS ALREADY AHHHH this was never supposed to be popular omg thank you all so much :D


	5. Do You Want To Override This Save File?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhh two chapters in two days!?!? geez, i'm on a roll! :)
> 
> and sorry in advance for the super long chapter, but i guess it makes up for the other one being shorter??

It started off slowly, like the wind blowing before a storm.

You noticed in the downtimes. When it was quiet, and he was wrapped in his own thoughts. How his ever-present smile would falter, how the pinpricks of light in his eyes would grow a shade dimmer, and how once he noticed you looking, noticed you noticing him, he’d go right back to the way he was before. You knew he wasn’t happy. For a while, you thought it was you, until you asked him.

“Sans?” He made a noncommittal humming noise to indicate he was listening. It was a quiet day, you two had just gotten done watching some show on the television and you were laying with your head on a pillow in his lap, his bony fingers gently playing with your scalp. “Are you happy with me?”

His reaction was instantaneous.

His fingers stilled, you slightly missing the feeling, and he looked down at you in astonishment, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. He opened and closed his jaw a few times before he figured out what he wanted to say.

“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be? Does it seem like I’m not?”

You sat up, looking at your lap. “Well, you just always seem sad, y’know? Like, when you think no one’s looking.”

There was silence for a few moments before he gently grabbed either side of your face and turned you towards him. “Oh no no no. Babe, that’s not you. That’s not about you at _all_.” You looked at the earnest expression on his face, tears burning and threatening to spill from your eyes at the thought of how you’re so happy with him and he might not be with you. “No, I was just thinking about some things that happened a long time ago, okay? It’s not you.” He gently wiped one tear away, one stubborn tear that had fallen down your cheek without your permission.

“Do you want to talk about it then? If it’s bothering you this much-”

“I’m fine.” He interrupted you, still with his hands on either side of your face. “Okay? I’m fine.” He gave you a gentle smile. “I would say cross my heart, but yeah.” You laughed a little despite yourself, his mission accomplished.

“Well then it’s a good thing you don’t have tendons, because that was quite a stretch.” You two had laughed and the mood was lightened. You then went back to what you were doing, the incident forgotten.

After the wind comes the sprinkling of rain. The wildlife hides, and everything quiets and darkens.

He tried so hard to keep the nightmares from you.

Nightmares about what, you didn’t know. All you knew was that something was keeping him up at night, the nights were he said he’d just sleep on the couch because he was too lazy to get up, the nights where you’d go into the kitchen to get a drink of water and recognize the expression as the same one you had from your own nightmares.

He refused to talk about them. He refused to talk to anyone about them, but you could see that they were eating at him, hollowing him from the inside out and it was something that could not be a burden to bear by himself. You tried so hard to try and get him to open up, so gently, but he always shut you down before you could get a word in.

And then the nights when you had a nightmare, when you woke up in a cold sweat dreaming about fire and white and black he would be there, comforting you and saying sweet nothings to you until the shaking stopped and you calmed down enough to return to sleep if he layed down with you. And lay down with you he would, but instead of sleeping he’d just think. Think while you laid there so peacefully in your slumber. Think about times long before this one, and what might happen afterwards.

After some time of you trying to get him to say _anything_ that you could use to help him - he wouldn’t even let you comfort him, no, he had too much pride for that - he began to grow irritated, snapping at you for prying, even though you really weren’t doing such a thing. You were just so terribly worried. He would quickly stop though and mutter apologies into the crook of your neck or between your shoulderblades, ashamed that he had gotten upset with you. And despite everything, he never once raised his voice at you, never threatened you.

After one such particularly bad time, you had to go and cool off. You were upset and hurt that he didn’t trust you enough to let you in to even try and calm him down from whatever was bothering him, not even trying to figure out what it was, and yet he had the nerve to do it to you. You went to Alphys and Undyne’s house that night, knocking on the door.

A very tired fish woman had opened it, rubbing sleep from her eyes before realizing it was you on her doorstep. “Woah, hey nerd, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you at your own place?” All you could do was shake your head, too upset to trust yourself to talk to her without crying out of frustration and worry. She seemed to understand, opening the door wider to let you in. You wordlessly followed her to the kitchen where she sat you down at the table and went to the cupboards. “What kind of tea do you like?”

“Chamomile maybe? I heard it’s supposed to be calming.” Your voice was quiet, and so was she as she puts the kettle on the stove and grabs a chamomile bag to set in a mug. She turned to you and leaned against the counter, waiting for you to start.

You avoided it for now. “Where’s Alphys?”

“She’s upstairs sleeping. She was working really hard on this project and just crashed. Something about comparing monster to human anatomy? It’s pretty cool, but super complicated.” You merely nodded while she took the kettle off of the heat before it could start whistling and graciously took the mug of hot tea from her. She sat down at the table, leaning one arm on it to prop up her chin. “So?”

“So what?” You took a sip of the tea. It burns your mouth.

“So why are you here in the middle of the night? What’s up?” She was oddly quiet compared to her normal self, perhaps noticing the serious aura around you and responding accordingly. 

You shrugged, trying again with the tea. It’s still too hot.

“Well something’s bothering you, and it must be girl stuff, otherwise you’d probably be talking to Sans about it, right?” She attempted a joke to lighten the mood, but from the look on your face, she quickly changed her attitude. “Or is it Sans? Are you two having problems? You guys seemed fine. More than fine, actually. You guys seemed great.”

You took another sip of the tea. It was still super hot, but it didn’t burn your mouth that time. It burned the back of your throat though.

Undyne leaned forward in the chair towards you, her long red hair falling into her face a little bit. “Hey, you can talk to me, y’know? Are you and Sans having issues?”

You didn’t know if it was the change from her usual personality or if it was the worried expression she had, but something in you decided to talk to her. Maybe she would know something after knowing him for far longer than you had?

“He’s… he’s having nightmares. And he looks so sad when he thinks no one’s looking. No, not sad. Lost? I don’t know, I just know that it worries me. And when I try to talk to him about it, or even try to calm him down after a nightmare, he just completely shuts down. And that just worries me even more, y’know? A-and lately he’s been getting irritated with me for asking but I just want to make sure he’s okay, I mean, I don’t want him to be depressed and feel like it’s wrong to ask for help a-and,” at some point tears had started falling, you couldn’t recall when. Undyne had listened to you patiently, and only got up to grab you some tissues as you took a moment to pull yourself together.

“Well, the whole nightmare thing is new, but not the whole shutting down part.” You looked at her in confusion as she gave you a sympathizing look. “He’s always kinda been the type to keep things in, kinda like Alphys. Except he does it to protect people, or so he thinks anyways. Alphys does it because she’s ashamed of things, I don’t really know. What I do know is that when Alphys starts getting that way, I sit down and have a serious talk with her about it. Maybe you should try that? Maybe if he understood how worried you are about him, he’d open up a little? Or at least agree to open up to someone?” You nodded, still hiccupping a little. Undyne patted you gently on the shoulder with her webbed hand. “You’re free to stay here for the night, okay? I’m sure you can talk to him about it tomorrow.”

After the few drops of rain comes the downpour. Thundering, crashing roars from the sky as it is ripped apart by light and energy and the sky pours down, the wind howling as it tears through the trees and before you know it you’re in a hurricane with no way out.

You awoke in their guest bedroom, your phone blinking at you because of several missed calls and texts. All of them from him.

\--hey, r u ok? where’d u go?

\--did u get there ok?

\--nvrmnd undyne just told me u were with her

\--i no u dont wanna talk right now, but can we later?

\--i’m sorry

\--goodnite i guess

And then a few missed calls, probably from before he knew where you were going. Undyne must have sent him a message after you told her you just wanted to go to bed. Your fingers flew over the keys before you really knew what you were doing.

\--You up? I wanna talk to you

He called in a matter of seconds; he must have been checking his phone constantly for a message from you. The thought makes you feel guilty for a few moments before you answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey babe.” His voice was hoarse. Had he been crying? “You wanted to talk?”

You shook your head even though he couldn’t see it. “In person. I don’t wanna do this over the phone.” You hung up before he can say anything else, the hurt a still-fresh wound.

You straightened out your clothes and ran your fingers through your hair before going downstairs. Both Alphys and Undyne were up, and judging by the pitying look Alphys gave you, the yellow monster had been told about the situation.

“Hey nerd, sleep well?” Undyne’s voice was the same as last night, quiet and level. She was probably worried you’d break down again like you did last night. You nodded, rubbing sleep from your eyes. 

“Can one of you give me a ride back to my place? I don’t really wanna walk that far.”

“No problem.” Shockingly, it wasn’t Undyne who answered first, but Alphys. “You ready to go? We can leave now.” You nodded and followed her outside to the garage, the look of surprise on the fish woman’s face not going unnoticed.

You two got into the car quietly, Alphys waiting until you were a little down the road before she starts talking.

“U-undyne told me why you came over.” You nodded; you had figured that much. Alphys took a deep breath before starting, maybe in an attempt to calm her nerves. “Sans is… h-he hasn’t… he’s always been…” You patiently waited for her to gather her thoughts, you weren’t the best with words all the time either. “Sans doesn’t want a-anyone to worry about him. He’s r-really good at it, too. He’s used t-to keeping stuff in, y-you know, to keep his brother happy? He j-just needs some time. Cut him some slack?”

You stayed silent for a few moments before glancing over at her as she looked at you hopefully.

“Alphys, we’ve been together for almost a year now.” Alphys nodded, attempting to stutter out a reply, but you cut her off. “And he still hasn’t opened up at all. Not even a little bit. I understand that he’d have a harder time opening up than most people, I really do, but nothing? After this long?”

She didn’t seem to have a reply to that.

She dropped you off at your apartment after spending the rest of the drive in silence, driving off quickly. He was leaning against the wall outside, hands shoved into his pockets and looking down at his slippers before lifting his head up at the sound of your footsteps.

His smile was gone, that was the first thing you noticed. You can only think of two other times when that happened; when Papyrus had mentioned he was going on a date with Mettaton and the night where you had asked if it was you making him unhappy. The next thing you noticed were the half-dried tear streaks down his face. So he had been crying.

Your smile was gone, that was the first thing he noticed. Your eyes didn’t hold the same light they usually did, and your mouth was set in a grim line. He could only expect the worst at this point. The next thing he noticed were the bags under your eyes. So you hadn’t slept either.

You both knew this was an important crossroads. Either you’d fix your problems or you’d go your separate ways. Instead of saying anything, you turned and walked towards the park, listening to his shuffling steps follow.

He fell into step beside you, the silence that was usually so comforting now crushing, now suffocating. 

You made it to the park, you standing still and not looking at him while listening to the silence of the early morning all around. He starts first.

“So, uh, you wanted to talk?”

You looked over at him, taking in his worried expression, his defeated expression. He thought that you were going to leave him.

You nodded, taking his bony hand in your own. “Yes, I want to talk. I want _you_ to talk.”

His grip tightened as his expression hardened. “Look, I said-”

“I know what you said, Sans. And I also know that whatever it is, it’s eating you alive. It’s really worrying me. I’m scared for you.” His expression softens a little, plastering a small smile on his face. His grip never let up. You spoke before he could.

“And stop doing that!” He kept his smile, but his eyes betrayed his confusion. “Stop smiling when you’re hurting! Stop smiling because you think that if you smile it’ll make everything better! Taking care of yourself is just as important as taking care of the rest of us!”

He let go of your hand.

He shoves his own into his jacket pockets, his smile a little more forced than it was a couple seconds ago. “I am. I just like smiling, that’s all. You need to stop overthinking this.”

Frustration was taking over. Hurt and frustration. Those pesky emotions were making you move your arms as you spoke and hot tears to start going down your face. “I’m not overthinking this! Sans, you can’t fool me! And I’m not going to pretend that I don’t notice anything like your brother does!” His smile falters for a moment. “I’m not going to be like Alphys and make excuses, either! Something is making you _rot_ on the inside, and it’s killing me to watch you let it kill you! You aren’t letting me in! You’re completely shutting me out, and then you have the nerve, the _gall_ to sit there and get after me for doing it!”

“I think you need to calm down.” His voice is tense, as strained as his wavering grin.

“Calm down!? Sans, I’m _terrified_. People who don’t reach out, who think that they have to hide everything, they-” Your own tears choked off your next words, too upset to even say that possibility.

“I’m. Fine.” He tried so hard to keep his voice even, so hard to not snap at you, that you can see right through it.

“And then you get _mad_ at me for this! You’re upset with me right now! You’re mad at me because I’m worried about you!”

“Well I never asked you to worry about me!”

His words rang out in the early morning silence. They echoed slightly off the pavement. And out of instinct, pure instinct, you had flinched slightly. He had never yelled at you before. And as he had yelled at you, the white lights in his eyes disappeared only to be replaced by a single blue light in one of his eyesockets. And just for a moment, just for one, brief moment, he was something else entirely. He was something else you had never seen before, never heard before. He wasn’t your funny, goofy, extremely childish, intelligent boyfriend. In that instant he wasn’t even your Sans.

And as soon as you had flinched back, as soon as the words had left his mouth and pierced the early morning quiet, the blue was gone, his eyes wide as the realization of what he had just done hit him full force. He staggered backwards a step, as if it was a physical blow.

“Babe-” He choked out the word, unsure of what to do. It’s an understatement to say you were upset. You were furious. Furious and hurt.

You didn’t even say anything as you turned on your heel and walked back to your apartment.

He didn’t follow.

~*~

You called Tiffany, keeping your voice even. “Hey! What’s up? You’re up pretty early!”

“I need some moving boxes.” Silence followed on the other line, her waiting for you to elaborate. “I’m taking that job and I need to leave today.” Instead of asking questions she brought them over, also recruiting her cousin to help so he could lift the heavier boxes.

Guilt ate away at you, feeling bad for leaving Papyrus and Frisk and the others when they cared so much about you, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to face them anymore. Not after what happened. Maybe you were taking the coward’s way out, but you didn’t feel like you had any other choice. You wrote a letter to everyone individually, letting them know that you were leaving the country and that you were sorry for leaving so suddenly but something came up. You gave the letter to Tiffany to give to them, making her swear to not give them a forwarding address or your new number once you got a new phone.

You were on a plane later that night.

~*~

Sans opened the door to his house, his posture slumped worse than usual.

“Brother! You’re home! I was worried about you- brother?” Papyrus had bounded out of the kitchen, only to come to a halt seeing his brother’s condition. The taller skeleton’s volume lowered considerably. “Brother? What’s wrong?”

Sans looked up at him, not even bothering to hide the tears pooling at the corners of his eyes or put on a smile. “I messed up bro. Really bad. I guess you could say I’m a real **bone** head.” He attempted to laugh at his own joke but it came out as more of a choked sob.

He walked past his brother and slammed his bedroom door shut, locking it.

~*~

Only after the storm passes and you’re in the eye of the hurricane do you see how much damage was caused.


	6. Critical Hit!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhhh i'm so sorry an update has taken forever, life has been super busy lately and doesn't look like it's slowing down anytime soon, plus i got distracted with a project i'm helping a friend with.... sorry! ^^'

Two.

It had been two years since then.

Two years since the hurricane, two years since you abandoned your problems entirely by leaving the country, two years since you’ve spoken to any of them.

Two people that you left behind that you cared about more than the world itself.

Twenty-four months. One hundred and four weeks. Seven hundred and forty days. It ate away at you every day, terribly so. The only one you kept in contact with was Tiffany; and, despite all your efforts to convince her of the contrary, she knew you were unhappy. She gave you little updates here and there, like how Undyne had almost burnt down Toriel’s house lighting Frisk’s birthday candles or how Mettaton was giving Papyrus lessons on ‘how to address the public’ so he could show off his boney boyfriend on television. Each one was a new thorn in your heart, that they were getting along so well without you, but you were still glad to hear they were doing well despite your abandoning them.

Tiffany gave them updates as well, whenever they would come into the restaurant and ask about you. About how you had found an apartment without a problem and how you were doing well at your job. Sans never came in anymore, a detail she ‘accidentally’ failed to mention to you.

_Histories of things that have never been crash into each other, jumbling, confusing, mingling and mangling together into one ear-shattering cacophony._

_Sights and sounds and smells all swirl together, blur together until the mixing shifting colours are so numerous and bright and dark and it all leads to the same place:_

_It all ends in fire and white and black and fire again. White, fire, blackness, white, fire, blackness, white, black, fire, fire fire fire_

_Fire and white and black and something new_

_White and black and angry red orange yellow and purple ___

_Purple?_

_How interesting, how intriguing, maybe just maybe_

_**FIRE** _

_Black._

_White, black, white so much white_

_Purple._

_**FIRE** _

You don’t know what or who waked you, but you were grateful for it nonetheless, for it interrupted your never-ending nightmare that just seemed to repeat itself. You sat up slowly, shaking hands clutching desperately at your sheets as the tremors move throughout your body and fail to cease. The nightmares were fewer now, only every other week, but far too close for your liking. Maybe you should see somebody for that? 

It was in times like these that you wanted his soothing voice whispering in your ear, saying things you didn’t quite understand until you pulled yourself out of your mind, his firm hands rubbing circles on your wrist, your shoulder, your back, anything to ground you and pull you back to reality. 

With shaking hands and an aching heart, you slowly got up and got ready for the day. You arrived at work, bags under your eyes and slouching, but no one asked what was wrong. You appeared like this to them fairly often after all. At first they had asked, but after the first few times of either getting a very vague answer or none at all, the questions had slowly stopped. 

In your exhausted state, you didn’t even recognize the voices talking to your boss until your boss was leading them to right next to you. Your boss knocked on the wall to get your attention and you turned around, almost dropping the papers you were holding. They seemed just as surprised as you were, and you’re sure that if they had been holding anything, they would have dropped it. 

“So, these two are-” 

“DARLING WHERE THE **_FUCK_** HAVE YOU BEEN!?”

“Mettaton, please… oh no, there’s he goes…”

The infuriated robot storms past your confused boss and stops right in front of you, jabbing a metal finger into your chest (which actually kinda hurt a little bit). “Darling, we have been looking _everywhere_ for you! Now I am _all_ for dramatic exits, _trust_ me, but disappearing in the middle of the night with no word of where you’re going is a bit extreme! We were all so worried about you! All Tiffany told us, thank the darling, was that you were alive and in a whole other _country_!” He continued on for a while, in an angry rant, until Napstablook hit a spot on his left shoulder, causing the robot to power down.

“It’s temporary, it just puts him in sleep mode…” The ghost gave you a small smile in apology as your boss walked out in an attempt to give you three some space to work out whatever was happening. “I’m glad you’re okay… We’re sorry we interrupted your work, we can find somewhere else-”

“No!” The ghost looked at you, startled. The word had come out a bit louder than you intended, so you cleared your throat before continuing. “No, i-it’s fine, really. I’d be happy to help you guys. And maybe catch up? If you’re not too mad at me…?” You looked at your friend hopefully.

“Well of _course_ we’re going to catch up! You can’t just expect us _not_ to!” Oh. Looks like Mettaton’s temporary sleep mode was over. Pity. “And we’re not mad at you! Okay, maybe a little, but we were mostly hurt, darling! Until Tiffany said you took the job out here, we thought you just decided to up and leave!” The robot celebrity wraps a cold metal arm around your shoulders. “But first we’re going to have to talk about the reason we came here in the first place…”

After setting the groundwork for your collaboration with them, you decide to take a half day and walk around town with them to catch up.

“I’m sure you’re well aware of what _I’ve_ been doing, since I’m so famous after all, but to be honest here darling - and I’m saying this out of love, I promise - you look absolutely terrible!” You gave a half-hearted laugh and rubbed the back of your neck.

“Yeah, I guess you just caught me on a bad day. Didn’t sleep well last night.” A bit of an understatement, but they didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, are you having trouble sleeping? Well I know all these different remedies to help humans sleep and-” You let him ramble on for a bit, not wanting to tell him that you’ve already tried everything short of prescription drugs or something illegal.

“So, how are the others?” The question tumbled from your lips before you could think about it, interrupting him mid-list and causing both of them to turn and look at you. Mettaton dropped his forced bubbliness and you could see his posture droop. Napstablook looked away.

“I’ll be honest with you darling, you leaving hurt. A lot. I’m pretty sure Frisk and Pappy were hurt the most.” Welp, there went that stake in your chest, as if you didn’t figure that already, hearing it from someone else just helped to drive it home. “Frisk bounced back from it after a while - well, sort of. They stopped being as sad about it and just accepted it. Pappy took a lot longer. You and I both know that despite him being such a sweetheart, he doesn’t exactly have a lot of friends.” You nodded, not trusting your voice. “He’s better now, but that hurt’s still there, darling. It doesn’t just go away.”

Napstablook spoke up next. “And as for the others… They were sad too. Undyne broke a lot of punching bags at they gym… and MK doesn’t quite understand.” And there goes another dagger through the heart. You hurt so many people by your rash decision, all because you couldn’t handle one little breakup? And judging by the way they avoided him, Tiffany had informed them about it.

You all walked aimlessly in silence for a moment before Mettaton spoke again. Did he ever _not_ talk? You’re pretty sure he’s one of those people who can’t stand silences. “Tiffany told us you weren’t doing so hot lately, darling.” You were confused. You hadn’t told her about the nightmares or anything, had you looked that tired when doing a video chat with her? “She says you really miss everyone, especially Frisk.” The pink and black robot waits for a moment, gauging your reaction before pressing forward. “Do you maybe want to come back? We-”

You shook your head. No, it’s not a good time to go back. Not now, at least. There was a curious mixture of pity and understanding on Mettaton’s face - how a robot of all things can be so expressive, you’ll never know. And why there was understanding on his face, you’ll also never know because how could you have known that he too abandoned his family - granted, in pursuit of his career not after a breakup - and understood that there’s a right and a wrong time to go back and say you’re sorry?

Silence fell over the three of you yet again as your steps fell in time with Mettaton’s heels clacking against the pavement. The sunlight filtered through the light dusting of clouds, casting a greyish hue over everything and making the world seem not as vibrant as it should. Hmm. How fitting. There weren’t many people outside, just a few here and there who threw passing glances over at the three of you (most likely because of Mettaton) and continued on their way. Their chatter slowly made it’s way over to you, lazily drifting across the roads and around the houses to reach your ears and whispered nonsense into them.

A cold gust of wind passed by, causing you to shiver slightly and wrap your arms around yourself. You didn’t know if it was a true feeling of cold or only a phantom feeling brought on by the emotions waging havoc in your heart and your mind. No, you won’t go back yet. Maybe in time, maybe when they have started repairs from the damage the hurricane caused, maybe when everyone is a little more stable, maybe when there is a foundation and life starts to resemble normal again, but not now. Now it’s too soon, the fight still too raw after two whole years, after seven hundred and forty days the wound still bleeds in the dark of night, in the downtimes, in the quiet and the dark when the mind is to be at rest and allowed to wander the halls of memories.

No, now isn’t the time. but maybe, just maybe, you can start slowly, take little steps towards facing them again. After all, once Mettaton and Napstablook had left, they had given you a powerful tool, something that you can use to slowly start with the foundation of the bridge back to the entire country you had fled over the bridge you had burned to the ground.

The energetic robot had slipped it into your hand before they left, grasping it tightly and whispering in your ear that the small steps are the hardest but mean the most. About how there’s always one person you need to apologize to more so than the others. And then he had walked away. And as he had walked away, you had looked at the seemingly insignificant piece of paper in your hand and had almost fallen to your knees in tears in a mixture of happiness and regret and guilt when you saw the note scribbled next to the line of numbers.

He had given you Frisk’s phone number.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! First post on AO3, and one of my few fanfics that I actually write. Feel free to leave criticisms if you didn't like something/I portrayed it badly! Or just leave comments in general, I don't really care. We'll go on this adventure together! (but seriously, if I mess up somewhere, especially with keeping the Reader gender-neutral, LET ME KNOW PLEASE) And sorry for it being so short! Be prepared for widly varying chapter lengths!!
> 
> *The thought of reading this fills you with DETERMINATION.


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